1. 1
Discuss the framing of female “disease” in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow
Wallpaper” and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
“John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always
makes me feel bad”; the term “bad” within this quotation could be interchanged with “mad”.1
Madness is framed as a deviation from the constructed “norm”. In this binary opposition of that
which is “normal” against anything that can be classed as “abnormal”, it is typically that which
adheres to the “norm” that is viewed positively. Therefore, being “mad” or “diseased” is
commonly seen as being “bad”, “deviant”, “abnormal” and contains a dangerous sense of dis/ease
or strangeness.2
“John says” demonstrates how this construction of the “norm”, and the
subsequent opportunity to frame the female “disease” in chosen ways, can be classified as a
commonly male role (p. 4). The placement of John and his authoritative, threatening opinion
(“very worst”) at the beginning of the sentence confirms the male power to frame a woman's
dis/ease and “deviant” behaviour as a “condition” (p. 4).3
The term “confess” proclaims the female speaker's dis/ease which results in feeling “bad”
or “mad” (p. 4). A confession occurs when there is tension within the self, due to an act of
deviancy and awareness, (even subconsciously,) that this behaviour is seen to be unacceptable.
The initial quotation invites an interrogation of how dis/ease that results in “deviant” behaviour
causes the woman to be framed as “diseased”. It also encourages an exploration of the possibility
that dis/ease resulting from male enforced restriction, may often be the cause of a withdrawal
from sanity. This is implicit in “I confess”, as the second “I” shows that the authoritative voice
has temporarily changed and the dis/ease now belongs to the female speaker, as well as to John
(p. 4).
1 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” in The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories, ed. by
Robert Shulman, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 3 – 19, p. 4. All further references will be to
this edition and will be given parenthetically within the essay as a page number only.
2 Dis/ease means such things as a disrupted state of “ease”,discomfort, anxiety and dissatisfaction.
Strangeness will later be explored in terms of that which is uncanny,and therefore as a causation of dis/ease
as well as a symptom of “disease” as it is here.
3 The name John is chosen as it is common and can represent this role as primarily male. This technique is
also used in Christina Rossetti's “No, Thank You, John” in The Norton Anthology English Literature Eighth
Edition Volume 2, ed. by Stephen Greenblatt, (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc 2006), p. 1478.

2. 2
Elaine Showalter's distinction between sex roles and sick roles is an extremely useful
concept to help identify with the issues contained within the texts and interrogate them in this
essay.4
In contrast to the self-appointed male role of framing female “disease”, the female sex role
is a constructed expectation or model that women adopt in order to avoid being deemed more
suitable for the sick role. In both texts female characters felt dis/ease whilst confined to their sex
role and therefore deviated from it. Their rebellion generates a male decision to place them into a
sick role.
Jane, the female speaker in “The Yellow Wallpaper” is an example of a desire for
creativity which is not endorsed in the typical construction of the female sex role:
He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making,
a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited
fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the
tendency (p. 7).
The use of “he says” and terms which are commonly viewed as male qualities, “will and good
sense”, indicates the patriarchal model which encourages the construction of the female sex role
and a decision rather than a diagnosis of “disease”. This is also shown through the contrast of
opposing indicators that show a particular construction of femininity, “habit” and “excited
fancies” (p.7). It is clear that Jane's dis/ease stems from her knowledge that deviation is
dangerous. When the speaker states, “he shall send me to Weir Mitchell in the fall. But I don't
want to go there at all”, she is aware of the power of male sex role, and yet she exhibits rebellion
by placing her opinion in a separate sentence and using declarative, firm language (“at all” p. 8).
John classifies Jane as having a “nervous weakness” and yet she confesses on the
previous page, “I cannot be with him, it makes me so nervous” (p. 6). This exposes the source of
her dis/ease and contradicts John's categorisation. Rather than having a perpetual “weakness”
Jane is nervous when she is in John's company, (“it makes me so” p. 6). “Him” and “it” are both
representatives for the restrictive construction of female sex role. The feeling of being nervous is
4 Elaine Showalter, “Nervous Women: Sex Roles and Sick Roles in The Female Malady: Women, Madness
and English Culture 1830 – 1980,(London: Virago Press, 1987), pp. 121 – 144.

3. 3
figured as a component of sickness and although it is a mild one, it shows that the process of
framing dis/ease as “disease” has already occurred. Jane's dis/ease concerning her deviations
from her expected sex role has resulted in transference to a sick role when she is “diagnosed”
with a “weakness” and a “tendency” (p. 7).
In Jane Eyre Bertha's deviation from her sex role is much more difficult to trace as she is
a silent character, except through her laughter and reported actions. She is therefore restricted to
Jane's interpretation of Rochester's testimony.5
However, some textual details suggest why her
dissatisfaction leads to deviation and subsequently caused Rochester's own feeling of dis/ease.
The text proposes that Bertha's sexuality is in excess of the typical construction of female
eroticism. This is implied by the descriptions of her as a “wild” animal.6
This has strong sexual
connotations and evokes a sense of discomfort when forced to contain one's sexuality, as well as a
rebellion against that which is commonly assigned to femininity. Further, “like some strange wild
animal” portrays the attitude towards her as something “abnormal”, and through “like some” she
is also viewed as being a deviant who is unworthy of an individual classification (p. 297).
This view of strangeness and deviancy is supported by the description of her laugh as “the
unnatural sound” (p. 153). The term “unnatural” is highly ironic as her character is a technique
that encourages recognition of the constructed nature of sex roles and the way in which some
women are framed as “diseased”. Subsequently, the text questions the “naturalness” of restricting
one's desires in order to assume a construction which was created for you, rather than by you.7
The quotation, “a demonic laugh – low, suppressed and deep”, establishes that many women, not
just Bertha (“deep”) have been forced to restrict themselves (“suppressed”) in order to adhere to
the female sex role (p. 153). Suppression of female sexuality which may have prevented, or at
least limited Bertha's placement into a sick role, is necessary because of the male power to
pronounce “disease”, (for which Rochester and his feeling of dis/ease is a representative).
5 Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre, (London: Grafton Books, 1973), pp. 11 – 458. All further references will be to
this edition and will be given parenthetically within the essay as a page number only.
6 This descriptions is repeated throughout the Thornfield sections,Ibid.
7 This “you” is not to assume the reader of Jane Eyre is always female. This issue is also true for all
constructions ofsex roles.

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In contrast to Bertha's sexuality is the notably platonic relationship between Jane and
Rochester. The quotation, “whom you will have to lead... whom you will have to wait on”,
expresses how because Jane obeys Rochester's construction of the female sex role and therefore
does not cause him dis/ease, she is not deemed sick (p. 450).8
Instead, she triumphs over other
female characters and gains the ultimate female sex role of wife.
Furthermore, in both texts dis/ease is also a physical reality as the environments that the
speakers inhabit are corporeally limiting and troubling in terms of being “uncanny”. “The
'opposite of belonging to the home'” is a primary way in which the uncanny will be defined
within this discussion.9
Both women are situated somewhere which is unhomely, physically
restraining and in some way strange.
The statement, “the most important feature of the asylum... is its 'homishness'”
encourages an awareness of how this quality can help regulate or “remove” “insanity”, whereas a
lack of it can result in dis/ease and therefore “disease”.10
“The most important feature” proposes
that “homishness” is the most vital part of an illusory strategy to remove connotations of
“madness” and produce a version of a “home”.11
It is possible to suggest that places which are
unhomely may become like an asylum. The quotation “my asylum” from Jane Eyre confirms this
process (p. 171). This ownership (“my”) comes from Jane, rather than Bertha which shows that
Thornfield is an unhomely site of female dis/ease. However for Bertha this dis/ease is more
intense due to the extremity of her enforced silence, physical restraint and the denial of her right
to ownership, (she is after all Rochester's wife). Therefore, she is contained in a space somewhere
8 This platonic relationship is enhanced within Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, (London: Virago, 2003), pp. 1
– 441. It is suggested that Maxim and the unnamed narrator only consummate their relationship once, the
characters refer to each other as relatives, and it is possible to read Maxim as having suppressed homosexual
desires (therefore, highlighting the suppressed sexuality of Bertha). See Madeleine K. Davies' essay
“Rebecca's Womb: Irony and Gynaecology in Rebecca” in The Female Body in Medicine and Literature,ed.
by Andrew Mangham and Greta Depledge, (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2011), pp. 182 – 195. As
Rebecca is a revisionist text it acts as a way of emphasising the lack of sexuality between Jane and
Rochester, and Bertha's “excessive” sexuality during successive readings of Jane Eyre.
9 Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” in Literary Theory: An Anthology ed.by Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan,
(Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2004), p. 154.
10 Daniel Hack Tuke, Reform in the Treatment of the Insane (London: John Churchill, 1982), p. 153, in Elaine
Showalter, “Domesticating Insanity: John Conolly and Moral Management” in The Female Malady:Women,
Madness and English Culture 1830 – 1980,(London: Virago Press, 1987), p. 28.
11 Ibid. p. 28.

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between owner and prisoner and Thornfield is not only her “asylum”, but also “her cell” (p. 433).
Similarly in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the house becomes a kind of in-between residency
and is therefore an unhomely catalyst for dis/ease. There is significant fracture between the house
and the couple; “mere ordinary people” is contrasted with repetitions of grandeur, “ a colonial
mansion”, “a hereditary estate” (p. 3.) These terms also evoke an uncomfortable sense of invasion
as the house is intended for inheritance or colonisation. The prospect of forming customs, rules
and a lifestyle in the house is unstable as the tenancy is knowingly limited, “for the summer” (p.
3). The text places Jane in a space with a short time scale and the purpose of making her “well
again”. This intention is transformed into a necessary quick fix through the detail that John “has
no patience” (p. 3.)
Jane's incentive to escape her sick role is reminiscent of Bertha's prisoner status. In Jane's
case her time in what could also be labelled a cell, with its bars on the windows, is rehabilitative
rather than Bertha's which is perceived by Rochester to be a justified incapacitation. However, it
is possible to see these two imprisonments as part of the same process in which female dis/ease
and deviation is framed as “disease”, and then further male enforced discomfort and limitation
causes a withdrawal from sanity.
The dis/ease caused by a sense of strangeness is connected to the ways in which the
female characters feel alien in their “homes”. Nicholas Royle offers a definition of the uncanny
which is compatible with this type of dis/ease: “The experience of oneself as a foreign body”.12
In
“The Yellow Wallpaper” this experience is directly connected to the unhomely quality of the
house, “there is something strange about the house, I can feel it” (p. 4). The text explores Jane's
disconnection from herself towards identification with the “faint figure” (p. 11). “'I've got out at
last,' said I, 'in spite of you and Jane? And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me
back'”, this quotation and later text in which John becomes “he”, “him” and “that man”, displays
a transference from the speaker's previous identity into a new “foreign body” (p. 19). The
12 Nicholas Royle, “The uncanny: an introduction” in The uncanny,(Manchester: ManchesterUniversity Press,
2003), p. 2.

6. 6
repetition of “I” as a method of self-identification, contrasted with the question mark surrounding
the previous name and corresponding identity of “Jane”, should be seen in partnership with,
“'John dear!' said I in the gentlest voice”, in order to highlight the complexity of the shifting self-
hood (p. 18). The “I” in this quotation is still partly Jane as there is an awareness of John as her
husband. However the speaker is not fully committed to this identity as “the gentlest voice” is not
“my gentlest voice”, and so it becomes an impersonation (p. 18).
Bertha's experience of herself as a “foreign body” is imposed upon her through her
perceived resemblance to an animal and another deviant identity, “'is she possessed with a
devil?'” (p. 153). In a similar way to the shifting identity of “Jane”, Bertha is given a kind of
doubleness; she is herself and a version of the devil at once. This combination of identities is
framed as an equilibrium through the positive term “with” which evokes balance and partnership
(p. 153). This positivity does not remove the “devilishness” of Bertha, instead it is a technique
used by those who label her as “diseased”. It aims to make the doubleness appear natural and
innate rather than caused or framed by others. Therefore, she retains her femininity whilst being
presented in a way which allows her to be framed as a “disease”.
Furthermore, when Jane is instructed by Rochester to remain on the third story she
declares “I experienced a strange feeling as the key grated in the lock” (p. 214). Jane expresses
the same male enforced dis/ease as Bertha when restricted to a strange, unhomely place which is
not hers. It also recalls Jane's previous experience of dis/ease in an unhomely space, (a “jail” in
this instance, p. 18) and the sense of oneself as a stranger. The text states that Jane was “a trifle
beside myself; or rather out of myself” (p. 16). This demonstrates the awareness that the female
characters discussed within this essay have of the constructed and imposed female sex role and
the danger involved in their deviancy from it. Jane sees herself from two different angles,
(“beside” and “out”) and also describes herself as “the strange little figure” (p. 18). Therefore, she
can examine the possible self who is formed when compliant to her sex role, and the other
deviant self who risks being framed as “diseased”. This awareness is supported by other textual

7. 7
details within the red room section, such as Jane's dispute “'How is he my master? Am I a
servant?'” (p. 16).
Ruth Robbins summarises the problem of female restriction in “The Yellow Wallpaper”
and Jane Eyre: “What space can his wife have for an identity between these binary oppositions of
health and disease?”13
This essay has argued that the restrictive nature of the constructed female
sex role often incites dis-ease and deviance. It produces a desire to rebel and create one's own
version of femininity. Both John and Rochester are in some way uncomfortable with this
rebellion and regard challenges to typical femininity as signs of an “abnormal mind”. The
exploration of these two related stances demands that we question who the dominant dis-ease lies
with and who, or what is its source.
In both texts the “diseased” females are placed in the ultimate female sex role of wife. It
is possible to suggest that John and Rochester both comply with the male role to construct
femininity; they encourage adherence to it by marrying creative and/or sexual, and certainly,
vocal women. We must interrogate the agendas in the construction and reinforcement of the
female sex role. Both men are recognisably masculine, for example John is presented as an
authoritative physician and is aligned with being “practical in the extreme” (p. 3). Rochester is
figured as a mythical rider on “a tall steed” and is introduced as “the man, the human being” (p.
117). The classification, “the man the human being” defines woman as the other, or what
Rochester terms a “sort of being” (p. 296). This is because within binary oppositions each
category or type is defined by what it is not. In these texts the men are masculine and healthy,
whereas Jane and Bertha disobey femininity and are “diseased”.
Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that the male agenda is a preventative method to
maintain the parameters of masculinity and avoid the feeling of dis-ease which arises when this is
challenged. When Bertha and Jane try to reconstruct their femininity they are changing what is in
opposition to masculinity. Thus, in order to protect the model of masculinity, men must frame
13 Ruth Robbins, “Reading the Writing on the Wall: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 'The Yellow Wallpaper'” in
Literary Feminisms, (Hampshire, UK: Palgrave, 2000), p. 249.

8. 8
women who challenge femininity as something else, a different “other”; they select “diseased”. In
conclusion, we now know the answer to Jane's question, “why did Mr Rochester enforce this
concealment?” (p. 215).
Bibliography
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Liverpool University Press, 2011).
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